SPORTS – Page 5

Robo-umps are coming to Major League Baseball, and the game will never be the same

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS, TECHNOLOGY

Robo-umps are coming to Major League Baseball, and the game will never be the same

The Houston Astros’ use of cameras to steal signs and conceivably cheat to win the World Series has driven many recent conversations about the place and meaning of technology in sports. The Major League Baseball season is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but this has only delayed the league addressing the controversy of using technology within the game. New MLB-sponsored technologies, specifically those used to call balls and strikes, will spawn an entirely new set of questions about tech in baseball. These will only heighten the sport’s identity crisis. Baseball is a game heavily rooted in its history, and beloved traditions can make it very hard to change any aspect of the game. The historical continuity of game play enables fans to compare player and team performances over tim...

Top football recruits bring in big money for colleges – COVID-19 could threaten revenue

29Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, SPORTS

Top football recruits bring in big money for colleges – COVID-19 could threaten revenue

Colleges and universities are spending more than ever to land the nation’s top football recruits, with some schools having boosted their recruiting budgets by more than 300% in the last five years. These budgets can surpass US$2 million for schools like the University of Tennessee. Is it worth it? I study economics. Research I recently did shows just how big the payoff for spending money to recruit the best players can be. Half a million dollars The schools that secure five-star recruits – the 30 or so players judged to be in the top one-hundredth of the top 1% of high school football players – can increase total revenue by over $500,000 for a university’s athletic department. Most football teams never secure a five-star recruit. Others, such as the University of Alabama and Louisiana St...

Can an intelligence test forecast which quarterback draft prospects will have NFL success?

22Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS

Can an intelligence test forecast which quarterback draft prospects will have NFL success?

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is slated to be selected with one of the first 10 picks in the NFL Draft. Like all top prospects, Tagovailoa has been subjected to months of evaluation, with teams’ scouting departments measuring his athletic abilities, interviewing his college coaches and researching his personal life. He’s also taken the Wonderlic Personnel Test, which, for about 50 years, teams have administered to prospects. This 12-minute intelligence test consists of 50 multiple choice questions measuring cognitive ability, with the score reflecting the number of correct answers. While all prospects take the test, the scores of quarterbacks – due to the belief that the position requires more brainpower – tend to generate the most media interest. The scores are nominally private, but every...

Trump wants sports back – but fans aren’t so sure

20Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, IN OTHER NEWS, SPORTS

Trump wants sports back – but fans aren’t so sure

Some politicians, media figures and business leaders are clamoring for sectors of the economy to re-open in the near future, and President Trump, on April 14, specifically mentioned America’s professional sports leagues. CC BY-ND “We have to get our sports back,” Trump said. “I’m tired of watching baseball games that are 14 years old.” But a recent poll of 762 Americans across the country conducted by my colleagues and me at Seton Hall’s Sharkey Institute shows that Americans may be less enthusiastic than the president about the prospect of “Play Ball!” – at least, until there are some effective COVID-19 treatments in place. Asked if they would feel safe attending a game before the development of a vaccine, 72% of Americans said they would not, while 12% said they would only go to games...

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, SPORTS, VIDEO REELS

A world without sports

Baseball’s opening day came and went. The Olympics have been postponed. Football in the fall? Don’t count on it. With COVID-19 infections and deaths rising each day, the cancellation of live sporting events might seem like an afterthought. But in the coming weeks and months, their absence will undoubtedly be felt. This isn’t the first time sports have been put on hold. During previous crises and conflicts, sports have been stopped. But in the past, the reprieve was brief; sports went on to act as a way to bring Americans together, persevere and, ultimately, heal. This time’s different. An American ‘religion’ Sports are so important to so many of us that some have likened them to a modern religion, replete with rituals, saints and shrines. “Sports are more than games, meets and matches,...

27Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SPORTS

How Far Is A 5K Race

Running a 5k is becoming a very widely held goal for many beginner runners, it seems to be something that is easy to imagine doing and for a complete newbie not too daunting a prospect. It's a distance which with a little constant training most people could build up to running without rest in as little as 6 to 8 weeks. Many charity events and road races now use this specific distance as it's a good starting point for most folks and you don't have to be an elite athlete or a gym junkie to contemplate doing one. But just exactly how far is 5k. Well in a nutshell, it is 3.1 miles. Depending on whether you're looking at the distance as a metric or the old imperial system. If you want the answer in kilometres, over a distance of 5 kilometers, there are 5000 metres or 16,404 feet If you w...